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Former two division champion Carl Frampton is very surprised with Ryan Garcia’s desire to step in the ring with Manny Pacquiao.
Last month, the 22-year-old Garcia pulled off the biggest victory of his career when he knocked out 2012 Olympic gold medal winner Luke Campbell in seven rounds.
Pacquiao, 42-years-old, is boxing’s only eight division champion and still widely regarded as a very dangerous fighter.
The Filipino superstar has been out of the ring since July of 2019, when he won a twelve round decision over Keith Thurman to capture the WBA welterweight title.
Should a Pacquiao fight come together, Garcia would be required to move up a division or two, likely to a catch-weight between 140 and 147.
Frampton could certainly see a scenario where Pacquiao ends the fight by knockout.
“This is massive. If this fight gets made, you have to give Ryan Garcia credit, it’s a brave fight to take because Manny Pacquiao, although he’s not the fighter he once was, if Luke Campbell can drop Ryan Garcia, [then] Manny Pacquiao can knock him out. This is a risky fight,” Frampton stated on his Youtube channel.
But, with heavy risk comes a heavy reward.
In 2008, Pacquiao himself was competing as a lightweight and took a big risk when he moved up to the welterweight division to pull off a dominating stoppage of Oscar De La Hoya.
The victory made Pacquiao an instant pay-per-view star.
Frampton could see the same thing happen with Garcia – if he knocked off the veteran with an upset win.
“If Ryan Garcia goes to that level and beats a hero of mine, an absolute superstar in Manny Pacquiao - he puts himself [right up there] with Canelo Alvarez, who is the number one fighter on the planet, in terms of being the boxing superstar… just the top guy in boxing, he is pay-per-view - and Ryan Garcia would be number two. If he beats Manny Pacquiao he becomes number two in pay-per-view,” Frampton said.
“This is an extremely risky fight. If he goes and beats Manny Pacquiao, which he could very well do, it’s amazing. It’s a huge statement if he goes and wins, but there’s that chance he could get chinned and the bubble bursts a bit.”